That would best describe the shade of embarrassment on the Buffs' faces after getting swept by Stanford last season by an average of 22 points.

Colorado was manhandled 84-64 at Maples Pavilion and 74-50 at the Coors Events Center.

The Cardinal out-rebounded CU 85-53 in 80 minutes of play. Chasson Randle scored 18 points in the first meeting and 20 in Boulder.

During the Pac-12 media day event in October, I asked guard Aaron Bright why Stanford seemed to have the Buffs' number.

"Before both those games we had heard they came out and said basically they were going to win," Bright said. "We took it very personal and we were just clicking those games."

CU's players spoke about needing to rebound from a loss to Cal before the first game at Stanford. The Buffs were also talking about making a run for a top-four seed before the Cardinal crushed those plans last February.

But there was nothing personal directed at the Cardinal that I recall.

CU still had the last laugh after winning the Pac-12 Tournament and making the NCAA Tournament. Stanford ended up winning the NIT.

"I wouldn't say surprised because they were a good team," Bright said of the Buffs' memorable finish. "But we were mad because they won (the conference tournament), and we beat them pretty good both times."

Tad Boyle said the Buffs did not match up well with Stanford's size a year ago. He added that having Xavier Johnson and Josh Scott to help Andre Roberson should change the dynamic in the series.

"They have some younger players in the lineup this year. Last year they had three seniors, a lot of experience," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "I've watched those kids on tape, they're all developing, they're all improving, and they're going to be just fine."

Duck-ing Arizona, UCLA

Oregon (16-2, 5-0) is alone at the top of the Pac-12 standings with wins over UCLA (15-4, 5-1) and Arizona (16-1, 4-1).

And the way the unbalanced schedule worked out, the Bruins and Wildcats are going to need some help to catch up.

The Ducks don't play UCLA or Oregon again during the regular season.

"Wow! That's pretty good stuff," Cal's Mike Montgomery said when told of the interesting scheduling quirk on Tuesday's Pac-12 coaches conference call with the media. "The way the league is shaking out right now, that's pretty interesting."

Montgomery said that "it's pretty clear" that Oregon, Arizona and UCLA have "separated themselves" from the rest of the Pac.

Washington (12-6, 4-1) is tied for third place but coming off a home loss to Utah. The Huskies visit Eugene on Saturday.

"We haven't accomplished anything yet," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "Until you get more than halfway through your conference schedule, you don't know where you stand. We're just off to a nice start."

CU should be a factor in the regular-season race with a circled home game remaining against Arizona (Feb. 14) and two meetings with Oregon (Feb. 7 in Eugene, March 7 in Boulder).

"Colorado winning on the road Saturday (at Washington State) was a big win," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "I think it's going to be hard for people to go into Colorado and win."

The Bruins escaped Boulder with a 78-75 victory on Jan. 12 in the only regular-season meeting with the Buffs this season.

Utes go wild

Utah was 0-12 in conference road games as a member of the Pac-12 until defeating Washington 74-65 on Saturday in Seattle.

CU shot 36.2 percent from the field during its 64-54 loss to the Huskies three nights earlier at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Utes (9-9, 1-5) made 29 of 48 (60.4 percent) shots from the field.

"It looks great when the shots are going in. That's the bottom line," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "I really like the character of our guys. We don't have any quitters, we've got fighters."

Presidential pardon

Oregon State's Craig Robinson was unavailable for Tuesday's conference call. Michelle Obama's brother was flying back to Corvallis after attending Monday's second inaugural ceremonies for president Barack Obama in Washington D.C.

The Beavers are in last place in the Pac-12 with an 0-5 conference mark.

"The record is tough. We have to put together a full game," Robinson said after last Saturday's 69-68 loss at USC. "You have to put together a full game in this conference if you want to win. You can't play partial games in this league."

Oregon State hosts Washington on Wednesday in the first meeting since Robinson's team upset the top-seeded Huskies at the Pac-12 Tournament last March.

National rankings

Oregon climbed to No. 16 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the coaches poll. Arizona is No. 6 in both polls.

Four Pac-12 teams, including the Buffs, are in the top 50 of the NCAA's official RPI this week -- Arizona (2), CU (19), Oregon (25) and UCLA (44).

Four teams from the conference are outside the top 100 -- USC (136), Utah (148), Oregon State (159) and Washington State (187).

Notable

Pac-12 teams are 100-29 (.798) at home this season. ... Mark Lyons is the Pac-12 player of the week after scoring 24 points to lead Arizona to a victory at rival Arizona State. The senior point guard is the first Wildcat to earn the weekly honor this season. ... Oregon hasn't been 5-0 in conference play since a 5-0 start to the Pac-8 season in 1973-74.

Quotable

"Anytime you lose it's a bad thing. You can try to obviously learn from the adversity, but you don't want to lose," Howland, whose Bruins are coming off a home loss to Oregon and heading on the road to play Arizona and Arizona State.

Follow Ryan on Twitter:

@RyanThorburn

Pac-12 Power rankings

Ranking (record) comment

1. Oregon (16-2, 5-0) -- Ducks are 5-0 in conference play for first time in 39 years. Up next: Wednesday vs. Washington State.

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story